Justice Surya Kant takes the mantle as India’s 53rd Chief Justice

TODAY, JUSTICE SURYA KANT was administered the oath of office of the Chief Justice of India by President Droupadi Murmu.Justice Kant is the 53rd Chief Justice of India and has succeeded Chief Justice B.R. Gavai.The oath ceremony took place this morning at the Durbar Hall of Rashtrapati Bhavan, now renamed Ganatantra Mandap.In attendance were Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, Vice President C. P. Radhakrishnan, former CJI B.R. Gavai, sitting and former judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts, along with family members of CJI Kant.New Collegium compositionsWith the change of guard in the Supreme Court, there has also been a change in the composition of the Collegium, which takes decisions on the appointment of judges to the High Courts and the Supreme Court.The Collegium that considers appointments to the High Courts will now comprise CJI Kant and Justices Vikram Nath and J.K. Maheshwari. Justice Maheshwari is the new entrant to the Collegium for appointments to the High Courts..The Collegium that considers appointments to the Supreme Court will now comprise CJI Kant and Justices Vikram Nath, J.K. Maheshwari, B.V. Nagarathna, and M.M. Sundresh..The Collegium that considers appointments to the Supreme Court will now comprise CJI Kant and Justices Vikram Nath, J.K. Maheshwari, B.V. Nagarathna, and M.M. Sundresh. Justice Sundresh is the new entrant to the Collegium for appointments to the Supreme Court.The composition of the Collegium will change again only after the retirement of Justice Maheshwari on 28 June next year.With the retirement of Justice Gavai, there is currently one clear vacancy in the Supreme Court.Further vacancies will arise only next year when Justices Rajesh Bindal, Pankaj Mithal, J.K. Maheshwari, Sanjay Karol, and Satish Chandra Sharma demit office on April 15, 2026, June 6, 2026, June 28, 2026, August 28, 2026, and November 29, 2026 respectively.Thus, CJI Kant will be able to fill as many as six vacancies during his tenure, which will come to an end on February 9, 2027.There has been no appointment of any woman judge to the Supreme Court since August 2021, although as many as 27 judges have been appointed to the Supreme Court since then.From Article 370 to putting Sedition law on halt: Justice Kant’s decisionsJustice Kant has been part of many notable decisions of the Supreme Court. He was a member of the five-judge Constitution Bench which upheld the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution, thereby taking away the special status of Jammu and Kashmir.A Dalit Chief Justice in a Hindu majoritarian India.Justice Kant was also part of a seven-judge Constitution Bench and wrote a concurring opinion overruling the Azeez Basha (1976) judgment, which had held that Aligarh Muslim University was not a minority institution. The Constitution Bench laid down criteria to determine whether an institution qualifies as a minority institution. However, the decision of a three-judge Bench, on the facts of the case, regarding whether AMU is a minority institution, is still awaited.Justice Kant was also part of a three-judge Bench that halted the operation of Section 124 (sedition) of the Indian Penal Code (‘IPC’). He was also a member of the Bench that appointed an expert committee to probe the alleged use of Pegasus spyware on activists and journalists. However, the report of the expert committee is yet to be made public.Justice Kant was part of the Bench that granted bail to former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the excise policy corruption case. He was also on the three-judge Bench that granted bail to fact-checker Mohammed Zubair after multiple FIRs were lodged against him over his social media posts.Justice Kant also authored an important ruling in the K.A. Najeeb (2021) case, holding that on the ground of delay in trial, a constitutional court is not denuded of its power to grant bail under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, notwithstanding the rigours of the statute.Justice Kant drew criticism when he denied relief to BJP leader Nupur Sharma, whose remarks about Prophet Muhammad had sparked widespread protests. Later, the Bench headed by Justice Kant granted her protection and ordered consolidation of the FIRs against her..Justice Kant also granted interim bail to Ashoka University professor Ali Khan Mahmudabad, who was arrested over a Facebook post regarding Operation Sindoor..A Bench headed by Justice Kant had also put in abeyance the disqualification proceedings against 16 rebel MLAs in Maharashtra who had revolted against the then Chief Minister of Maharashtra Uddhav Thackeray and belonged to the Eknath Shinde camp. At the same time, the Bench refused to stay the floor test. This eventually led the then Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Thackeray, to resign ahead of the floor test.Justice Kant also granted interim bail to Ashoka University professor Ali Khan Mahmudabad, who was arrested over a Facebook post regarding Operation Sindoor. However, the Bench headed by Justice Kant formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe his social media posts. The Bench also restrained the professor from expressing any opinion on Operation Sindoor.Justice Kant also heard an appeal by Madhya Pradesh Minister Kunwar Vijay Shah against a Madhya Pradesh High Court order directing registration of an FIR against him over his derogatory remarks against Colonel Sofiya Qureshi, who had briefed the media during Operation Sindoor. Justice Kant, while deprecating the minister’s remarks, eventually protected him from arrest. The Bench headed by him also formed an SIT to investigate the FIR.Justice Kant has been hearing the challenge to the Election Commission of India’s decision to hold a Special Intensive Revision in Bihar and has been passing interim orders in the matter.From Hisar to Tilak MargJustice Kant was born on February 9, 1962 at Hisar in Haryana. He started practising law at the District Court, Hisar, in 1984. He shifted to Chandigarh in 1985 to practise in the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Justice Kant has the distinction of being appointed the youngest Advocate General of Haryana on July 7, 2000.He was designated as a Senior Advocate in March 2001. He held the office of Advocate General, Haryana, until his elevation as a permanent judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court on January 9, 2004. Before his elevation to the Supreme Court, Justice Kant also served as Chief Justice of the High Court of Himachal Pradesh with effect from October 5, 2018. He was appointed to the Bench of the Supreme Court on May 24, 2019. His name was recommended by a Collegium comprising the then CJI Ranjan Gogoi and Justices S.A. Bobde, N.V. Ramana, Arun Mishra, and R.F. Nariman.

Justice Surya Kant takes the mantle as India’s 53rd Chief Justice

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